Sales Training:

Sales Training America is a world class sales training and custom development training company specializing in sales training and sales skill development of our client's sales force. At Sales Training America we help our clients improve their sales profitability through the development of their sales management and sales efforts through SalesForce.com implementation. Sales Training America offers both public (open enrollment) sales training seminars well as the development of customized sales systems and sales seminars for Fortune 1000 companies across United States and Canada.

Are you one of the many corporations now focusing on core sales activities while implementing SalesForce.com while outsourcing non-core functions in response to intense competition?

If you are, Sales Training America can help there too. If you simply want to outsource some of your sales or sales management training or if you want to redefine yourself completely to survive mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, downsizing, or corporate restructuring we can help you.

For free, no obligation information on how we can help you with your sales training needs please contact us today.

Sales Training Tips:

Medical Sales Training

The term "medical sales" covers a lot of area: medical device sales, laboratory sales, clinical diagnostics sales, biotechnology sales, imaging sales, pathology sales, pharmaceutical sales, and tons of other niche areas of health care sales. Even though there are strong differences in style (capital vs. consumable sales, for instance), there are several basic, bedrock things you need to know if you're going to land a job in one of these areas. They all have to do with background, experience, and candidate preparation.

Background

Ideally, you need a science degree. There are people who will tell you that you don't need a science degree to be successful in medical sales, but that's only partially true. In some cases, candidates with very strong sales backgrounds have gotten by with it, but they almost always have science classes under their belts (beyond just the minimum they needed to graduate). You have to know what you're talking about in order to sell with credibility and confidence-so if you want to be successful selling medicine, science, and technology, you have to know medicine, science, and technology. Medical sales training programs can be helpful (in the way that all training is valuable), but won't help an otherwise bad candidate.

Experience

You need sales experience and sales skills in order to land a job in medical sales. However, you don't necessarily have to have medical sales experience. What you must be able to do is demonstrate how the sales process you're good at will translate into your desired area of health care sales.

Complete a field preceptor ship (job shadowing). It shows that you're willing to do something that you won't get paid for in order to land this job. It demonstrates your initiative, determination, and strategic thinking. If you're short on experience, it helps fill in some of the weak areas. It's great for your resume, because it furnishes you with handy keywords that will get your resume noticed.

Read sales books and get sales training. These will help you in the interview, and if you can communicate that you've done these things, it will highlight your commitment to getting into medical sales.

Find medical sales reps or managers who will give you an informational interview. It's a fine line to walk, because you don't want to take advantage and turn it into asking for a job, but a good informational interview will give you tremendous insight into the field.

Presenting yourself as a top-quality candidate

Use your network. Work the network you already have, and establish a profile on LinkedIn. Join groups that are relevant to the medical sales areas you're interested in, and participate. Follow influential recruiters on Twitter.

Pay attention to your resume. Go beyond the basics of having an attractive, easy-to-read, professional resume. You must have the right keywords on your resume (that will get picked up by the Applicant Tracking Systems of medical sales recruiters), as well as a strong resume objective. Highlight your technical degree, if you have one.

Improve your interview skills. Polish your interview skills. Be ready for behavioral interview questions by having stories ready that highlight your skills. Do your homework before the interview so that you have questions of your own to ask, dress appropriately and watch your body language, and use your sales skills to close the interview for the job.

Write a 30/60/90-Day Plan. Prepare a 30/60/90-Day Plan to show your interviewer that you know what it takes to be successful at this job. A 30/60/90-Day plan requires that you analyze the job as well as the company, and set goals for success. It’s an outline for what you will do when you start the job. This kind of effort before you even get the job impresses hiring managers. You become less of a risk to hire, because they can see that you will be able to hit the ground running as an asset to the company.

Consider hiring a medical sales recruiter for custom consulting. It's the quickest way available for you to find out what it is that you need to do to land a medical sales job. This kind of career coaching will also show you how to highlight your best assets and how to deal with potential drawbacks (or even turn them into an advantage).

Source: Peggy McKeelink

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